Siemens AG, Europe's largest engineering firm, will be totally out of the nuclear power station business, according to its top honcho Peter Loescher.

Loescher made the revelation in an interview with Der Spiegel.

"We will no longer be involved in overall managing of building or financing nuclear plants. This chapter is closed for us," The Local quoted Loescher as saying. "We will from now on supply only conventional equipment such as steam turbines. This means we are restricting ourselves to technologies that are not only for nuclear purposes but can also be used in gas or coal plants."

The decision is in line with the stance of the German population against nuclear energy and the government's 2022 deadline to phase out nuclear power. Berlin has realized the danger pose by nuclear energy after Japan's nuclear reactors were damaged by an earthquake and tsunami in March.

The company has scaled down its nuclear power operations, including opting out of the joint venture with France's Areva SA in 2009. Areva is the world's largest builder of nuclear power stations.

A cooperation with Russian nuclear-power company Rosatom Corp. is also to be dropped, said Loescher.
Siemens AG's Kraftwerk Union AG built some of the world's largest nuclear reactor in the latter part of the last century.
Siemens also produces gas turbines and equipment used to produce solar and wind power.